A nurse has been awarded €70,000 after the equality tribunal found that the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul discriminated against her on grounds of gender.
The order was required to pay the amount in compensation and ordered to undertake to implement fair and transparent selection procedures in future competitive competitions for employment and promotions.
Ms Martha McGinn, a registered nurse for the mentally handicapped, said she was discriminated against when she was not appointed to the position of nursing practice development co-ordinator.
The tribunal heard that Ms McGinn was one of two applicants for the position. The other applicant was male, and after an interview he was successful.
Ms McGinn contended she was better qualified and had more experience than the male applicant. She said the advertisement for the job appeared internally at her place of work, St Joseph's Hospital, Clonsilla, and St Vincent's Hospital, Navan Road, both Dublin, and not in the national newspapers as had been promised.
Ms McGinn also claimed the advertisement was peculiar as it did not specify essential qualifications. At the date of the interview she had 10 years' experience while the succcesful candidate had only two-and-a- half years post-registration experience.
The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, in its submission, said the successful candidate was selected on the basis of his suitability to the position. The order denied it discriminated against Ms McGinn and said the selection process was carried out in a fair and objective manner.
The equality officer, Ms Gerardine Coyle, said that overall, she found the respondent failed to display fairness in its selection proceedures in relation to the temporary post of nursing practice development co-ordinator.
While this post was advertised as a temporary position for six months, she said she noted the successful male candidate was subsequently confirmed as permanent in this post. The respondent had set out as an essential requirement five years' post-registration experience in mental handicap and it waived the requirement in relation to the successful candidate.